What Now?
by LittleZbot
Summary: One-Shot. The day after Umi and Shun's talk with the captain, everything is supposed to be normal. So why does Umi feel so nervous? How come all she wants to do is burst into tears for no good reason? And why haven't her and Shun talked about any of this? Beyond all of these, though, one question keeps repeating in Umi's mind: what now?


**I had a couple of hours of free time, so I threw this together. Similarly to my Bastion One-Shot, this was written after a less-than-satisfactory ending to a fantastic movie. It's not meant to be sappy (though it probably will be). It's meant to be the ten minutes remaining that the film cut out.**

**Oh, and in the off chance you're reading this and haven't seen From Up on Poppy Hill, this seriously won't make any sense if you haven't. And it's good, so you should watch it. Subbed, of course. While I watched it in Japanese myself, I did try to make sure dubbed watchers would understand most things I spoke of (e.g. Umi is commonly called by the nickname Meru in the original, but this never occurs in the dub, so I left it out). This way, both types of people should be able to enjoy this story. If there's anything well-written enough in this story to enjoy, anyway, which I doubt.**

**Anyway, the movie is amazing and I hope someone out there gets something from this. Have fun.**

**…**

Umi woke up with a headache and a smile.

For a moment, reality was lost to her, as it sometimes is when you first wake up from a dream. She couldn't quite remember why her head hurt, or why she was happy about it. She glanced over at the sleeping form of Sora, lying on the floor next to her. That triggered a sight response in her brain – that's right, she had to get up, clean, and make breakfast. Every morning, she went through the same routine, but she was okay with that. Sora had mentioned wanting Miki's old room until they had a new border. Umi blinked as the memory occurred to her. Honestly, she was a little afraid that without Sora sleeping on the ground beside her, she would forget to get up in the first place. It was like a series of dominos – push one and all of the others fall into place. Remove the first one and the others would no longer fall.

But that was a problem for another day. By the time all of this had gone through her mind, she had automatically stood up, folded her bedding, and was on her way to the small cupboard now to put it away.

Then the bundle of blankets suddenly dropped to the ground, falling apart in a mess as everything that had happened yesterday and the night before washed over her.

Everything was different now. Her mom was home. The Quarter Latin was safe. Renovations were done. She could love Shun.

She could love Shun.

Two nights ago, she'd cried in her mother's arms after finding out the truth, and yesterday, it was confirmed by Captain Onodera. But it hadn't…quite felt real yet. As humbling as it was to meet an old friend of her father's and finally understanding the whole story of what had happened, it didn't really imprint on her at first. When she and Shun had reached the dock, they'd both went their separate ways with nothing more than a slight smile and a wave. While they were both technically supposed to still be in school, she doubted either of them went back. There was too much to think about. She was able to find a quiet bench where she could sit down. But try as she did, none of it felt real. Eventually, Umi had run home, started dinner, and only then, in the midst of the cooking and chopping, did everything come crashing down on her.

She was in the middle of cutting vegetables at the time, and so when it all hit her, she accidentally sliced into a small part of her finger. That was lucky – she was able to pass off the quiet wave of tears that followed as an overreaction to pain, rather than having to explain everything to everyone present. Her mother had taken over dinner immediately following that, leaving Umi to wrap her finger in a bandage and sort through everything. She'd skipped dinner, and went straight to bed. It left many confused faces, but nobody had questioned her.

That's why she had woken up like this. She'd cried until her head was pounding, but it wasn't because she hurt. It was because she was overrun with varying emotions. But, in the end, everything was going to be okay.

_So what happens now?_

Umi shook her head, burying the thoughts until later. No matter what was going on with her, personally, she had family and friends to feed and take care of. Everything else could wait. She wasn't sure what would happen when she and Shun met up at school, but until then, she'd just have to handle things normally. She picked the blankets back up and carefully refolded each one. After placing them in their proper spots, she rushed over to where her daily clothes were neatly folded and hurried to put them on. A quick smoothening and ten minutes of braiding in front of a mirror later, and she was downstairs.

She checked the rice in the pot above the kamado and tried to strike a match. She normally would have been able to do so with no issues, but today her shaking hands and bandaged finger got in the way. She went through four matches, and only lit the last one because she ripped off her bandage in frustration. The cut was still there, but it had stopped bleeding long ago and was already beginning to heal up. She would be fine. She lit the fire under the kamado and started a mental timer as she walked over to the flowerpot on her father's memorial. Like clockwork, she brought it and the cup next to it over to the sink, relieved both of their day-old water, and refilled them. On her way to replace them, however, she tripped over the leg of a chair, fell to the floor, and shattered the glass. Umi shook her head, stood up, and viewed the mess she'd made. Luckily the vase was untouched, so her first move to was put it back on the memorial and replace the glass. She then spent ten minutes in pain as she tried to find and remove every piece of broken glass from the floor. Eventually, she decided she must have gotten them all, and went to raise the flags.

She had only taken two steps outside before stopping short as a thought occurred to her.

She bit her bottom lip and continued down the garden. She pulled the flags on the flagpole and slowly, hand over hand, pulled the alternating rope down. The flags seemed unnaturally heavy this morning, almost as if they didn't wish to be moved. But moved they were. Umi continued pulling down on the cord. The wind caught of the flags before they were even halfway up. That yanked the rope suddenly, forcing it out of her hands as she stumbled. The flags crashed to the ground the moment she let go, and Umi ground her teeth in some slight annoyance. Her second attempt went much better. The flags were still heavy, but she raised them up to the top of the flagpole and reattached the rope to the bottom hook. The moment she was finished with that, she ran into the house and up the stairs, taking a swift turn before stopping right in front of Sachiko's door. She stood silently for a minute, then quietly and carefully cracked the door open. Sachiko was sound asleep.

With a little more confidence, Umi walked in and crept towards the window, leaning out it the moment she made the distance.

She stood there silently for nearly five full minutes, waiting with bated breath.

Then she saw a little tugboat on the water begin to raise their own flags in response.

Umi sighed in relief. Why she was relieved, she had no idea. She also had no idea why it suddenly mattered to her so much that she see these flags raised. She supposed that it was probably because she now knew who was raising them, and why. He'd stopped a while ago, and she guessed she wanted to see if things had changed because of what happened yesterday.

Things had changed.

Things were always changing.

She felt tension she didn't know she had leave her body. After messing up nearly every part of her morning routine, somehow seeing those flags had made everything wrong seem okay again. A quiet smile spread across her face and she quietly tiptoed her way out of Sachiko's room and down the stairs.

Only to have it all that tension come right back as she saw her mom in the kitchen, peering over the rice.

Ryoko glanced back at her daughter and smiled. "You've done a great job keeping the house in order while I've been gone, but I still see you overcook the rice."

Umi felt her face flush. "I'm sorry. I forgot I had it on."

Ryoko waved it off. "Don't even worry about it. What are we making?"

"Natto on rice with salmon. But you don't-"

Ryoko held up a finger. "Stop right there. I haven't made a traditional Japanese breakfast in, well, who knows how long. I've dearly missed it, so I'm helping."

Umi nodded, a smile growing on her face. It had been a very long time before the two of them had made breakfast together, or even _had_ breakfast together, for that matter.

Umi opened the small refrigerator and pulled out the salmon. "Would you please chop some vegetables for the kobachi while I prepare this?"

"Of course." Ryoko dipped down to open one of the many cupboards and scanned the shelves. "Where do you keep the vegetable these days?"

Umi set the cleaned salmon on a towel on top of a cutting board, pulled two knives from their racks, and began to carefully fillet it. "Check the top-left shelf for kale."

Ryoko opened up said cupboard. "Ah. Do you want me to season it, too?"

"No, I can do that. Just the rice and the chopping, please."

Out of the corner of her eye, Umi saw her mother smile. "My little girl is turning into a cook. Now if only she could learn how to make rice properly…"

Umi laughed. It felt good – it had been a while since the last time she laughed. Of course, she didn't tell her mother that she was normally excellent at making rice and the only reason it was overcooked today was because she was caught up looking out a window.

The next minutes were spent in silence as Umi sliced the fish and began extracting the bones while her mother alternated between chopping kale and bringing together the natto mixture.

"Sweetheart…" Ryoko broke the silence. "Are…you doing alright?"

This must have been about yesterday. Or the night before. Or maybe a combination of both. Whatever had happened, Umi knew that at the very least, despite everything, she was doing a lot better than she was a few days ago.

Umi smiled softly. "Yes. I am."

**…**

Breakfast was lively as usual, only this time everybody gave Ryoko the credit, not Umi, despite Ryoko's claims to the contrary. Umi didn't mind. It was nice to have her mother home at last, and her contributions towards the breakfast really did taste the best. Sora, of course, continued to question Umi endlessly about why she and Shun had run off the other day. And, of course, Saori was quick to shut her up – and quicker still to start asking the same questions just as eagerly. Umi just smiled and didn't say anything, which naturally incited them even further. Ultimately, people began running out the door, one by one, with Sora in particular leaving in a huff.

As always, Umi was the last to leave. After donning her school uniform, she was quick to say goodbye to her mother and grandmother before strolling out the door. Right as she passed from the yard into the street, a car stopped in front of their house, and out stepped Tomoko.

Umi nodded gracefully. "Good morning, Tomoko, Gen."

"Good morning, Umi!" Tomoko replied. "It must feel wonderful having you mother back home."

Umi smiled politely.

"Oi, Umi!" Gen called from inside the truck. "You and your friend ever get to where you needed to go?"

Umi waved to him. "We managed just fine. Thank you, Gen!"

Gen let out a hearty laugh as Tomoko carried her basket into the house. "Ey, anytime. Do you need a ride?"

"I'll walk this time, thank you."

"You walk _every_ time! One day you'll be glad I'm offering!"

"Thank you, Gen," Umi turned towards the horizon. "But I just love the smell in the air this time of year."

Gen shook his head. "Whatever you say, Umi." He began to drive away, but stuck a hand out of the window as he left, waving goodbye.

Umi waved in kind, even though there was no real way Gen would see her. She turned towards the school, and began walking. The school wasn't really very far, but as she drew closer to it, Umi's stomach began to turn in knots, and suddenly she was wishing it was far away still. The closer she got, the tighter those knots became. She calmed herself by breathing deeply, looking at the ground, and thinking of all the things she was happy about today.

But that was the problem. The thing she was happiest about was also the thing turning her stomach heavier than an anchor.

Now the schoolyard was finally within sight, and Umi felt herself unwillingly slow down and stop in the middle of the street. In her stomach, there were butterflies, and in her mind, there was a question.

_What now?_

She took a deep breath and trudged ahead.

**…**

There was no weekly paper today.

Umi was mildly surprised, but guessed she shouldn't be. Yesterday, they had spent so long putting the finishing touches on the Quarter Latin and preparing for the chairman that she would have been surprised if there was time at all to write up a paper. Plus, the staff of said paper consisted of exactly three students, two of which had received world-changing news yesterday and at least one of which had definitely not helped with the weekly paper at all.

It was fine. At least it gave her a little more time before she met up with Shun.

She and Shun had no real classes together, so the majority of the schoolday was uneventful – well, except for the entire student body spending all their time talking about the Quarter Latin and, more specifically, her and Shun. Umi did her best to ignore it, but that was quite difficult when her sister was mostly the one spreading the rumors. While her group of friends remained mostly quiet during the actual lessons, when lunchtime came around, they were on her like a bouquet of thorns. They crowded her lunchtable, asking various questions of various natures. Umi didn't answer any of them, or, at least, none of them truthfully. What was she going to say? "We ran off to talk to a captain who would be able to tell us if we were related or not?" All that would do would incite more talk, more attention, more ruined lunches.

When the bell finally rang, it was a great relief.

As she exited the school, she was no longer assaulted. Like everything, the rumors had run their course, and while there would be whispers of them in the weeks to come, nobody thought much of them anymore. It was amazing what could be accomplished in just one day, Umi thought. And just as amazing how much couldn't be accomplished in one.

Umi waited for a few extra minutes by the door to the school for Shun. She didn't know exactly what she had to say to him, but they couldn't just go on as normal after yesterday. It seemed the least they could do was have one conversation. About what? She didn't know. If she was being honest with herself…she just wanted to be with him right now.

She looked across the heads passing by her, but didn't spot Shun's mop of brown hair among them. It then occurred to her that she hadn't even seen him all day, even in passing. Not since the flags. If that even was him and not his father. Was he sick? Had something bad happened to him?

Was he avoiding her?

Umi's pulse quickened, causing her to be startled when Sora popped up behind her. "Hey, Umi!"

Umi jolted once, then relaxed. She smiled at Sora. "You go on ahead, Sora. I'm going to wait here a bit."

"Aha, so there IS something going on with you two! You're waiting for Shun!"

"I don't know what I'm waiting for," she told Sora truthfully. "Can you cover for me?"

Sora put her hands behind her head and waltzed backwards. "Oh, fine. But when you get home, I want details!"

With that, she took off.

_Yeah,_ Umi thought._ If anything _does_ happen._

Luckily, she didn't have to wait more than a minute afterwards before she heard Shiro call out "Yo, Umi!"

He ran up, out of breath, and stopped at her feet. Right away, he bent over, trying to catch his breath.

Umi bent down, mildly concerned, but overall simply happy to not have gone unnoticed. "Are you okay? Do you need some water?"

"No, I'll be fine," he replied, grinning, but gasping out every next word. "But I'm glad you're here. In case you didn't notice, we didn't print today!"

Umi flinched. She'd noticed.

"If we don't print tomorrow, everyone will call us the scum of the Quarter Latin! We'll be run out of business!" He stood, breath finally caught, and beat his heart with his right hand twice. "We must keep our promises, at all costs! There will be a weekly paper!"

Umi raised her hand to her mouth and giggled.

Shiro pointed downhill in the direction of the Quarter Latin. "To the clubhouse!" He didn't even bother waiting for her before marching in said direction.

Umi smiled, suppressed a laugh, and followed him. "Shiro, do you know where Shun is?"

"What?" he looked at her as if she were insane. "Writing the Weekly, of course! He's been making up for lost time all day. Had to pretend he was sick to do it, but, again, we must keep our promises!"

Umi's heart skipped a beat. In fear or anticipation, she wasn't sure. Was he really working there to get ahead with the Weekly? Or was he there because there was where she wasn't? Did he even want to see her? Did she even want to see him?!

Panic rose up into her throat, but Umi mentally shoved it back down. No matter what, they'd figure things out soon enough.

**…**

The Quarter Latin smelled like liniment and new paint. Which, Umi guessed, was fitting. All the work had been done, and now everyone was settling into their newly cleaned-and-rebuilt clubs, figuring out what they were doing, where, and why. Nobody batted an eye at Umi being there, expect for the occasional wave or hello. At this point, she was such an integral part of this boy's clubhouse that she was basically considered one of their own.

Umi liked that.

Not specifically being considered a member of a boy's clubhouse, but being accepted somewhere she originally didn't really belong. Becoming more than just a random girl. Everyone here knew her by name, and it wasn't because she was pretty.

Was she pretty?

She waved at everyone as they ran about the place, making spills and clouding up the air with dirt from un-wiped shoes. If they weren't careful, the new clubhouse would end up looking like the old one soon enough. But that's what she was here for, right? To remind everyone what they'd worked so long and hard for?

Shiro opened the door to the Archeology Room and Umi peeked in under his shoulder. Sure enough, there was Shun, writing away steadily. He seemed absorbed in his work, but not…unintentionally. He was pouring himself into this for a reason. And Umi was afraid of what that reason would be.

"Hey, Shun!" Shiro called out, strolling inside as Umi hung back by the door. "How's the work going?"

"Almost finished with the second draft," Shun replied. He turned around to continue talking to Shiro, but right away caught sight of Umi.

There was a dead silence in the air as the two met each other's gaze. Umi took in a big breath and didn't leave his eyes.

Then Shun smiled. "But I could really use a transcriber."

A light washed through Umi's face, and she let out a relieved smile.

Shiro ruffled the papers of a nearby desk and pulled one out from the middle. "You heard the man."

"Mm." Umi stepped across the doorway and managed to make her way to the chair Shun was in without falling on her face. Shun got up and gestured for her to take the chair, so she could begin.

For the next hour, that's all there was. Transcribing, copying, and sorting, between the three of them. There was a blissful quietness in the air. It wasn't a tension-filled silence, as there was when she first walked in. It was, quite simply, the sound of three people working together perfectly.

An hour in, though, Shiro revealed he had to call it quits for the night. "A relative's staying over, and I have to be sure to be home when he shows up," was his excuse. It didn't sound quite truthful to Umi, but she could sense the real reason he was stopping.

"Would you mind finishing up the sorting?" Shiro asked Shun.

"Yeah, sure," Shun replied.

Shiro nodded several times and bowed his way through the door, closing it behind him in a rather conspicuous manner. Umi and Shen were left alone.

They tried to continue their work for several minutes, but Umi, at least, was unable to focus. With Shiro in here, everything was fine – they were just three friends doing their jobs. But when she and Shun were alone, it didn't feel like that at all. She was considering saying something, but he did first.

"I didn't expect to see you today."

A small swell of anger pooled within Umi. "Why not?" she demanded. "I'm part of this paper, too!"

"Well, I thought…I don't know, that you wouldn't..." he didn't continue.

Umi looked out the window and across the bay. "You were avoiding me."

"Not really." Shun's voice sounded a little weaker than normal. Just a little. "I just…hadn't thought of the right things to say yet."

Umi's pencil's tip snapped off. She put it down, no longer pretending to work. She turned her gaze from the bay to her lap. "About what?" She asked the question slowly.

"About everything." Shun sat down on a small wooden bench – it was a recent addition to this particular club, but was basically just a shorter park bench with some pillows thrown on top of it.

Umi turned to look at him. She hesitated to say anything, ultimately choosing to join him on the bench.

Both were quiet, neither really sure where to take the conversation from here.

Umi tried to budge her way into the weight between them, "Yesterday."

"Which part?"

Umi was a bit hurt that he even had to ask. "The captain. His stories."

Shun quietly nodded and leaned back into the bench a bit.

Umi tried to broach the biggest subject "So…we're not-"

"Brother and sister? No, I guess we're not."

"But…"

Shun turned to look into her eyes.

"But…but," she stammered out, "if we're not…then what are we?"

There was about ten seconds of quiet before Shun gave his answer. Umi could see in his eyes that he was trying to figure it out himself. "I guess…I'm Shun and you're Umi." He smiled, but there wasn't any real joy behind it.

Umi grit her teeth and stood up. "And what if I want us to be more than that?!" she blurted out. "I mean, we met, and…and I liked…and then I found out…but then it wasn't…but…but…" Umi was kind of blabbering at this point. She knew she hadn't said anything that made sense. She was just kind of hoping that Shun would understand her anyway. "But…do you know how many times I almost told Sora that she had an older brother?"

Shun sat a little straighter. "Umi…"

"I just don't know how things can go on anymore! How can life look so normal to everyone when it's all so messy? How am I supposed to make food for my family and keep going to school if I don't even know where my heart is?!"

She was shouting at this point, emptying out everything she'd been feeling and thinking for weeks. It was at this point some tears were starting to roll down Umi's cheeks. She didn't even notice.

To Shun, this was coming out of nowhere, but it was clear from his eyes that he completely understood. He grabbed her hand and pulled her down into the bench. "Hey, it's okay. Don't start crying. Please."

But there was no stopping it now. "I don't know how to stop. I don't know where we are. I don't know where we want to be! I don't know anything!"

Shun opened his mouth to say something, but she continued before he could.

"I just…I just know that I woke up today so happy, because I was allowed to love you again. But I don't know if you…that you…"

Umi was blubbering, desperately trying to keep a straight face while tears were spilling down her cheeks. She didn't know what she was saying or expecting. She was hoping that Shun would say something like he did in Tokyo, that he loved her too.

He didn't.

Instead, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her face down into his shoulder.

Umi held back as best as she could for only a few seconds before bursting. She cried and wailed about anything and everything – how much she was afraid he didn't like her, how she laid in bed depressed when he told her they were siblings, how she could never stop thinking about him even then, how much it hurt to pretend he could only be a friend. Almost none of it was understandable in the slightest. But with every secret truth she told, she felt better and better.

It took a good twenty minutes before she was done. Her head felt like somebody had hit it with a gong. It was a hundred times worse than last night. She'd made most of the shoulder of Shun's suit wet. And she was very, very late.

But she felt so much better.

She nestled her head against a part of Shun's shirt that was still dry, and for some minutes they just sat there, in silence.

For those few minutes, Umi thought she could live forever.

But eventually Shun gently pushed her up. "We should be getting home. It's late, and I have a curfew."

Umi tore herself away from him and stood up. And as she did, she suddenly realized everything that had just happened. Everything she'd confessed, and everything she'd done. Her face started to grow pink and she stammered out "Sorry."

Shun opened the door. "No worries." Then, playfully, "It happens all the time."

The two walked out together. The sun was almost set, and they were the last ones in the whole building.

Umi was going to be in serious trouble when she got home.

As Shun stepped up onto his bike, Umi held back. She watched Shun position himself and get ready to leave before she finally got up the gumption to ask her biggest question.

"So…what do we do now?"

Shun scratched his head. "I don't know." He grinned and stretched out his hand toward her. "Want to find out together?"

Umi inhaled sharply and turned crimson, but she took his hand anyway. In a moment, she was swung into the backseat and, for the first time in weeks, the two rode together.

**…**

It was night already before they reached Umi's house. Shun stopped and dropped her off. He rode downhill, waving to Umi the whole way. Umi stayed at the gate and waved back until he was out of sight. Then she opened the gate and walked through.

Nothing happened. Nothing stirred. No lights went on,

She stepped up to the house and slid the door open. Most of the lights were off, and when she stepped inside and shut the door behind her, she heard no voices. It seemed that everyone was gone. That was strange.

Suddenly, a light shone down the stairs. Umi was blinded for a moment, and backed up.

"Oh, Umi!" came Tomoko's voice. "You're finally home!"

Umi shook off the burst of light. "Tomoko, where is everybody? And why are you still here?"

Tomoko chuckled. "I brought some of my own laundry to do over here earlier today, you know, while my wringer is broken. Came back to pick it up. Oh, the family is all gone. Your mother took everyone to a night on the town in Tokyo. Some sort of show going on, or something of those sorts. I'm sorry, dear; they waited a while for you, but you were just too late."

"That's fine. I'm just sorry they waited. Thank you, Tomoko." In truth, Umi probably would have preferred to stay home tonight, anyway. As much as she loved spending time with her mom, she needed some space for a while.

Tomoko trotted down the stairs and passed Umi. "I knew you were kept away when I noticed the flags were still up. You would have taken them down as soon as you got home."

Umi smiled. "Yes, the flags." She went over to the kamado and set a fire for some tea. "You know, they gave me a lot of trouble this morning."

Tomoko halted by the door. "Oh? How so?"

"It wasn't much. They just fell and felt heavy. A lot heavier than they ever have before…"

Tomoko curved up a smile. "Maybe it's a sign."

Umi turned from the pot to see her face. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you raise flags to send messages and guide things, right? Well, maybe whoever it was got your message, or whatever you were guiding found its way back. The flags aren't needed anymore."

Umi sat down and let idea wash through her. Tomoko had always been one to find worthless meanings and idioms in the smallest of items, but this time...

"Well, I'm off," Tomoko announced. "Good night, Umi!"

Umi was too lost in thought to reply.

When the door closed behind Tomoko, Umi was alone.

She slowly came to the realization that she was alone, for perhaps the first time that she could remember.

But, for once, she didn't feel alone.

Umi bit her lip, lit a candle from the kamado, and turned it off. She would have tea later. Now, there was something else she wanted to do.

She hesitantly walked across the kitchen and dining room over to her father's memorial and placed the candle on top of it.

Umi didn't usually believe in spirits or ghosts, or in contacting the dead. But, in her heart, she felt that whatever afterlife her father was in, there was a chance he might hear her.

She got down on her knees to bring herself to eye-level with the picture.

She searched for a way to begin.

"Hello, Father."

She fidgeted. "I um, I'm not really sure what I'm doing. But I want to tell you some things, and I just can't find a better way to do it."

She took a breath and kept going. "First, Mom's doing great. She went to America to study, and she's learned so many new things. Things I can't even understand – yet. She misses you all the time."

Her voice turned quiet. "I...miss you too."

Umi shook it off and continued. "She's back here with us, now. I don't really know for how long. I, well, I guess nobody ever really knows how long they have with their parents. But I'm here for her. I'm working hard, keeping up the house. And I'm doing well in school – my history teacher says I'm one of his favorite students! Dad, I, um, think I want to do what Mom's doing. I want to go places and help people. But I'm not sure yet. It's a big world for one little girl."

At this thought, she smiled as she imagined her dad laughing at her worries and dreams while still so young. Not that she felt young. Not anymore. Oh, that reminded her! "Oh, uh, Sora and Riku are doing great, too! Riku's a little athlete with a big appetite – he'll grow up to be nice and strong, just like you! Sora, well, she's a bit immature, but she's become so sweet and kind and does so much work for everybody. You'd be so proud of her. She's quite the heartthrob among the boys."

Umi frowned slightly. "I guess I'm having a bit of heartthrob, too."

She shook her head. "That little boy you adopted? He's grown up with a great family. He's a sailor, like his dad, and he's smart. Really, he saved the Quarter Latin almost by himself! Oh, uh, the Quarter Latin is an old clubhouse near our school. It was going to be demolished, but Shun, that's the boy you adopted, worked hard and managed to get our whole school working together to fix it up, and yesterday, we finally got the chairman to approve it!"

The words now poured out of her mouth. It was as if she'd been waiting an eternity to say them, but hadn't had the chance until now. "Something else happened yesterday, too. I…I didn't know about Shun. When he was younger, I mean. A few weeks ago, we met and we…well, see, he thought you were his…I mean, it's all so complicated. But…I think he loves me."

As she continued to speak, Umi slowly unbraided her hair. She inhaled deeply before admitting this next part to both her father and herself. "I think I love him, too."

She shook out the leftover curls from the braids. "That's kind of scary, I guess, but it's also so exciting! I wonder if this is how you and mom felt. For…for a while I thought he was your way of answering the flags. Maybe he is. I don't know if that's true, but it's nice to know somebody saw them, and somebody cared."

Umi smiled as she remembered everything that had led to this. "You know, this morning, everything kept seeming to go wrong." She shook her head. "But now that I can see more clearly, I think everything is going well. I love my life here, father, I always have, but I love it even more now. I help with the school newspaper. I have so many friends. Mom's home, and her cooking is as good as ever! I've talked to people who used to know you and found out more about you than I ever had before. I've been to Tokyo and got in a meeting with a big company executive! And the only reason this all started was because of your flags, father. The ones you taught me to raise."

Umi paused and dipped her head, frowning. Although she didn't really know why, she felt like her whole life hinged on the words she was about to say. She took in a deep breath and spat them out, quickly, before she could hesitate any longer. "But I don't think I need them anymore. I kind of want to see my future for myself. And you've already given me so much. I can't keep asking more from you."

Umi sighed, glad that the thought was out of her head and floating in the wind. Now that it had been said aloud, a sort of air was cleared, and she thought she felt, just for a moment, a hand placed upon her shoulder. Just like her father used to do.

She turned around, but there was nothing.

Umi turned back to the candle, her smile returned, humming.

She saw that the candle was dying, so she hurried with the rest of her feelings. "I just want you to know, wherever you are, that I love you so much. I know I can't have you back. But...that's fine."

The candle flickered.

Umi swallowed as she finally said the two words this all had been leading up to.

Honestly, she could have skipped the entire spiel and just said these two words to her father. But as much as he needed to hear them, she needed to even more.

"I'm...happy."

The flame flapped and faded, and finally went out. Umi let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

She was happy.

She hadn't been able to say goodbye before the candle went out, but if she knew her dad, he wouldn't have cared. So long as her last words were true, he'd be ecstatic.

_And they are true._

Umi smiled.

After a few more minutes of contemplation, she picked herself up and stretched out. She moved up into her and Sora's room to set up everything for tomorrow, and, when she finished, changed into her sleeping wear. Then, there was only one last thing she still needed to do.

She scooted downstairs and opened the door leading to the garden. It was dark, but she could still see well enough. She crept through the grass in her bare feet and kept going until she reached the flagpole. Then, she unhooked the bottom hook and began gently lowering the flags. They both came down without issue. She pulled them both off the ropes and folded them neatly. She was going to put them in storage. Maybe one day they'd come back out, but now…

Now, she didn't need them.

Umi smiled blissfully at the empty sea, lit only by moonlight.

_What now?_

She didn't know.

But, for the first time in her life, she was okay with that.


End file.
